Support Group - Chronic Illness
1
What is a Support Group?
A support group, is a group of people who are led by a professional and come together with a goal of overcoming or coping with a shared problem. With the leadership of a trained professional, they share help, comfort, encouragement, advice, and guidance to face their challenges together.
2
What are examples of chronic illnesses
Chronic illnesses are ongoing medical/mental health conditions that do not necessarily get "better" with treatment and over time. Autoimmune conditions such as (lupus, Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthiritis and colitis are all examples of chronic illnesses as well as lyme disease, cancer, diabetes and many others.
3
What are the 7 most common chronic disease?
According to the American Urgent Family Care Website, the following are the 7 most common chronic ilnessess: heart disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, stroke, alzheimer, diabetes and chronic kidney disease.
4
Does chronic illness go away?
Chronic illness is oftentimes long term and although certain types can get better over time, or for periods of time, many people live with with these conditions for the duration of their lifetimes.
Find the support your need
In a world where most human interactions begin with “Hi, how are you?”, it can be unexpectedly hard for the chronically ill person to find a suitable response. Whereas the typical course of illness and injury in humans is time-limited and clear, chronic illness is ongoing and complex and so is the mental health impact.
Through this group, Finding Wellness Within Illness, you will get a foundational understanding of one therapeutic modality that can be particularly helpful in the management of ongoing health issues: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (pronounced “ACT”). Many modalities seek symptom reduction as an outcome of the treatment, however with ongoing health issues, symptom reduction may not be a realistic or appropriate end goal. As such, the ACT approach of pursuing what is important and fulfilling in the presence of symptoms emerges as a more realistic, albeit challenging, endeavor.
Join this 8-week ACT workshop (broken up into two parts) to learn about strategies for noticing and managing the difficult thoughts, feelings and emotions that come up throughout this health experience and find ways of committing to what is important to you through valued living. Prepare to unlock validation, compassion and gratitude and reclaim agency over your health struggles.
Brittany Butts, LMHC (facilitator)
Brittany Butts is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor with a MA degree from Hofstra University. She has worked on psychiatric inpatient, outpatient and home-based levels, providing mental health counseling to a variety of individuals from all walks of life. Brittany’s therapeutic orientation is rooted in cognitive behavioral and mindfulness methodologies in which she collaborates with her clients to work toward individualized treatment goals.
